French media audience plummets

In a few weeks, the new features of the online search giant have contributed to an unprecedented collapse in the audience of major French media. A plundering of their work and revenues that threatens our democracy, according to the editor-in-chief of Vert, Loup Espargilière.

Traffic drops for major news outlets

Revealed on October 8 by the Alliance for Press and Media Figures (ACPM), the data for the main titles for September 2026 revealed a general decline in their traffic. Around -20% for Le Monde, La Dépêche or Le Figaro compared to the same month in 2025; -30% for BFM, France info or Libération; -40% for Le Parisien and even -50% for Ici (ex-France bleu). On average, generalist news media dropped about 22% in September. In August, the decline was already 17%.

Independent media also affected

The ACPM does not measure the audience of independent media, but it is already clear that they are not spared. At Vert, our website traffic in September 2026 is 12% lower than in the same month in 2025, but especially 44% below the 2026 average!

Context for the traffic drop

Certainly, online media traffic fluctuates depending on current events. September 2025 had peaks with the end of the Bayrou government or the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But a drop this abrupt and widespread among media that are very different (local, national, sports, etc.) probably has no equivalent in the recent history of the press. So how can it be explained?

Google’s role in the decline

The answer lies on the side of Google. Since July, the tech giant has reduced the visibility of news media in Discover, its interface that recommends content in its apps; deployed in France its AI summaries (the «AI overviews») in its search engine.

Impact of AI summaries

The principle? You no longer need to read our articles. The result? Our journalists work for free for Google. Our media, independent or mainstream, employ thousands of professional journalists to produce quality information. They are paid a salary. Not in visibility, nor in likes.

Revenue loss for media

When the public visits our sites and apps, they are sometimes exposed to advertisements, calls to subscribe or to make a donation. This is how our work is paid for and how you have access to quality information. However, as demonstrated by a study conducted by the Pew Research Center Ideas Lab in the United States, where AI summaries were launched as early as 2024, internet users click twice as less on article links summarized by AI than on regular links.

Google profits from media content

When a media's information appears in an AI overview, it is our content and revenues that directly go into Google's pockets through the advertisements displayed in search results. With AI summaries, it is Google that is paid when you read our work.

Threat to democracy and journalism

We are witnessing the plundering of French press companies by American tech giants, and almost everyone, from the general public to presidential candidates, doesn't care. It is however very serious for our democracy. At this rate, you will soon consume media produced by AI fed by the content of other AI, without humans going on the field, giving voice or investigating. In short, a press that will no longer be able to freely inform and play its role as a counter-power.

Call to action for readers

Faced with this pressing situation, what can be done? Remove AI summaries from Google. You will find a tutorial on our site. Leave Google: Gmail, Drive, Agenda, Maps, Chrome, etc. Vert is launching a series to help you leave the Gafam. The first episodes are online on this page. Subscribe to Vert newsletters to receive our information directly in your email inbox, without depending on algorithms or AI. But above all: Support free and human media like Vert. Every donation to Vert will be used 100% to fund free and quality journalism, made by humans, in service of our democracy.